More Beef Recalled For E. Coli

By Ben PopkenJuly 3, 2008

After Nebraska Beef, Ltd., recalled 531,707 pounds of beef for a possible E.coli contamination, Kroger is recalling beef from its stores and from stores selling beef under its label. The recall includes nearly all kinds and weights of ground beef with Kroger labels sold between 5/21 and 6/08. The sell-by date on them will fall between 5/21 and 6/05. Not included are ground beef in sealed tubes in 1,3, or 5lb sizes, or Frozen Beef Patties or Ground Beef Patties found in the frozen food aisle. Other caveats apply and there may be more updates, check the Kroger Recall page for the latest information. E.coli can cause food poisoning or even death. If you have any of this meat, you can either throw it away or return it to Kroger for a full refund.

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I thought these places used carbon monoxide on their meat. Isn’t that supposed to de-contaminate it? Or is that just Wal-Mart?

Maybe not everyone has this option, but… For the same price as the supermarket, I get my ground beef from a fancy-shmancy specialty market. They have good turnover and when they run out, they go into the wooden meat locker and grind it fresh. For the SAME PRICE as the supermarket. I buy my (Murray’s free-range) chicken there, too.

@pollyannacowgirl: My grocery store grinds in-house daily and will do the same when they’re running low.

Even Walmart used to be awesome when they first started doing Supercenters. Really cheap and good meats cut right there in-house, but then they centralized their processing and I won’t touch meat from there anymore. It even looks weird.

I quit all ground beef after I read Fast Food Nation. It doesn’t matter whether the beef is grass fed free range whatever. E Coli comes from shit contaminating the hamburger and it’s way more common that we all think.

@HFC: No kidding. I made one of my rare shopping trips to Kroger around this time – AND bought some ground beef – but we ate it 3 weeks ago. Thanks a lot, Kroger! I guess since we didn’t get sick we’re in the clear, but the info might’ve been more helpful back in June when it was in my freezer.

@MrBiggles: Same here. Just learning about the beef industry was enough to get me off of it for good. That being said, if you’re on a budget, it’s awfully hard to cut that easy to cook with and comparatively cheap source of protein out of your diet…

@Ash78: Yes, I try to buy only ground beef in a store where they grind actual beef on site. I will not buy prepared hamburgers; besides that they taste just awful.

As far as small label stuff goes, and grass fed and organic, etc? The contamination comes in the processing, not in the growing. You can raise the cow in a totally sterile environment, only feed it Bermuda grass and give it Poland Spring, but if the guy cutting the meat just left the bathroom without washing his hands, you’re gonna get sick.

Grinding beef on-premises sure sounds nice and fresh. Though I suspect this styro-packaged beef was ground on-premise since it didn’t come in the beef chub. The risks of bacteria are strongly associated with the conditions of the butcher shop and habits of the butchers. Handling raw meat products contains some risk so if your store has a flaw in sanitation, the advantage is questionable IMHO.

Of course, your chance of choosing a store with a good reputation is greater than making a selection on the processing facility.

As for me…I’ve got a $4 styro tray of recalled beef in my freezer which is going back to Kroger on my next trip.

Clearly if you’re going to buy beef, your risks are much lower when you cook the meat thoroughly. Ground meat especially.

Of course if it was purchased and immediately frozen, and then cooked completely, there’s no danger, right? I have no idea when I bought my Kroger ground beef (outbreaks in my own county from the stuff), as I purchased a lot of it on sale, and it’s since been re-packaged.

balthisar:
If you cook it completely to an internal temperature > than 160 F you should be fine. I’m in the same boat as you. I buy it on sale and repackage it in vacuum bags and then freeze it. I no longer have the receipts nor the packaging so they can’t issue a refund understandably.

@Hanke: Its not just the guy cutting the meat not washing his hands, but the meat processing itself. E Coli comes from cow shit on hooves, hides, when the cow is gutted. Anything that the intestinal or excreted material comes in contact with will become contaminated. With process lines fast and many MANY cows being slaughtered per minute contamination can be wide spread. Just think that your hamburger came from 300 different cows any of which could be contaminated with E Coli.

@JBlair42081: Another point to make is that it’s very important to be careful about contaminating surfaces, tools, hands, etc when handling raw ground beef. You can easily re-contaminate even completely cooked meat this way if you aren’t careful. I know, because I think I made this mistake recently. I went camping, and didn’t have running water nearby, and thus didn’t use soap when washing my hands after touching raw beef. Big mistake – I got pretty badly sick to my stomach a few days later, and I think this was the reason, though obviously I can’t be sure.

I just read that Kroger is being sued by a woman hospitalized over this. She’s only seeking 250K, which seemed low to me. Her lawyer made a name for himself in the Jack in the Box e.coli cases 15 years ago and is now the Go-to guy for food poisoning.

I hope she wins every penny and this opens the door for other lawsuits. It’s time we say enough to feces in the food.

I’m sure grass-fed beef is healthier, but it’s more expensive and that matters to some of us. I’ve had ecoli once and I’ll always make sure I cook my ground beef as necessary to kill it. I always assume it’s there.

From what I understand, at least in my state (WV) the beef is being recalled as a precaution and it is entirely voluntary. I cook beef to over 160 degrees (and other meats are cooked to the recommended temps or above) so I am not worried in the least. I also practice precautions in the kitchen to avoid cross contamination while cooking. I have never had food poisoning.